Mountain bikes raise concerns in grizzly country

Mountain biking is a popular activity on public lands, and a recent decision to allow electric bikes in National Parks and other Interior Department lands may bring even more bikes into wild areas. For some, that raises safety concerns for cyclists in grizzly (Ursus arctos horribilis) territory.

“The impacts are mounting because there are more and more mountain bikers and there is more pressure to go into these places with faster bikes and electric mechanized bikes,” Christopher Servheen, the retired coordinator for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department’s grizzly bear recovery program, told the New York Times. “The technology has exceeded our ability to manage it for the benefit of animals.”

Servheen led the committee that investigated the 2016 death of Glacier National Park ranger Brad Treat, who was killed by a grizzly while treat was riding his mountain bike near the park.

Read more from the New York Times here.